All over the world the threat of the deadly Corona virus hasn’t subsided. On the contrary, there is a new surge in Europe and the latest news is the total lock-down in Austria.May be Germany and other countries are in the line of fires to say, in the next round.The news from USA and why even UK are not clear.The point is that universities in the UK and USA, the two countries which have high stakes in terms of their international reputation in gross money terms a high stake in terms of their higher education finances are doing things that are not comfortable to students in these two major higher education segment and thus are also keeping the foreign students there in great uncertainty.
There are reports that education in many states are in total disruption.In Delhi,the capital city,the city government had ordered closure of the schools “indefinitely”. How long and comprehensively or in what other forms the school closures would evolve?No one can say for sure for obvious reasons.World over there is confusion and uncertainty. And education disruption is one of the critical casualties of the unfortunate times.
Sudha Acharya, the president of the Delhi-based Progressive Schools,one big private sector lobba and others like the other NGO, Pratham are discussing the state of the quality of education.
The times are such there is no chance anyone, experts or parents can speak out their minds about the difficulties of the schools or other the parents in times of such Ricky virus spreading and causing further damages to the health infrastructure.We like to draw some others outside the education field like the members of the general public or in fact from the government point of view as to what any educator can say and do.
The broad picture is somewhat hazy as to the current status of education and the future of education in one country or the world over, there is a quantitative jump in numbers at all levels.
Even in the UK there is pressure on the established universities like Oxford and Cambridge and even outside in London and the regional universities. Also a jump in the fees.
In the USA too the scenario is not very different. As for Indian education scenario there is this craze for education just for government jobs.The competition to get into the so-called class first services, IAS and IPS and audit and other revenue services is so strong that you read in your daily mainstream press that the only advertisements are from the private coaching academies.
Even in China which parallels in student numbers the coaching institutes have come under government scrutiny and the President Xi had banned the highly profitable coaching academy Academies.
In India. The same mindless greed from the so-called private sector education exploiters has only heightened and thus you can see the reverse trend after the Corona attack the parents haven’t returned to the private schools but to the government schools.
What the State governments have done in the education sector area are not in the interest of the students or for the sake of the parents. There are several issues here. One is that some State governments have pursued their narrow linguistic politics like teaching and learning in their mother tongues, as far as we know, the situation in Tamil Nadu is extreme ,so too the close parallel, Karnataka,where there is much rhetoric and less progressive for the lack of any rational discussion or action.
The TN’s State’s NEET exam issue is one prime example of political. Approach to what should really be a pure education and technical issue. There are issues like inequity and inequality in the access to education. The Right to Education (RTE) Act is facing many obstacles. And also others issues like adequate spec in the physical infrastructure.
One is true ideals in education.The curriculum needs reform and the contents need upgradation and contemporary issues as crucial contents like climate change,global warming, planetary issues and the persistence of of social and political unrest and the most dangerous,terrorism threats and other threats like hunger, food shortages, migration and the lives of people like refugees.
These issues are going to be in the forefront right now and in the immediate future. India should also formulate. A new foreign education scholarships for refugee children and asylum seekers in every higher education institutions so that India plays its international peace responsibility role as a major world power! Of course, mush remains to be done and much can be done in. The course of our implementing the NEW education policy!
Our children must grow up in times of much social and political disruption and we have to teach children these contemporary world issues,beside ethics and morals and public and private conduct.
Do we teach morals and ethics?
Seven in the US schools, we are told they do teach ethics and good behaviour. In some state in India,the current political trends are not happy, they teach, they correct text books and they do many things ,distort history ,that are not healthy from a strictly civilizational point of view.
We have to have a place for the views of public intellectuals on national level problems.
Certainly education is such a sensitive and top priority issue that won’t go away at the whims and fancies of politicians of the day!
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